On Sunday 3 November 2019, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) Class of 2019-2020 inquirers visited the St Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly at Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, which is under the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Collectively with their individual class effort, the inquirers raised sufficient funds to purchase goods to fill up the pantry of the Home and donate a sum of cash as well.

Sr Lucy welcomed all inquirers, their family members, godparents, facilitators and past-journey RCIA Catholics. The programme started with a video presentation about the Home and Sr Lucy stressed her religious order’s objective of spreading God’s love to one another by doing little things that would go beyond all boundaries. Later, all attenced the Mass on Sunday celebrated by Fr Paul Cheong OFMCap, who reminded that human dignity needs to be respected and the continuous effort in serving humankind.

Sr Lucy also led participants to view the facilities at the Home and gave a briefing how the running of the homes was done by the Sisters and volunteers. Some mingled with the residents and purchased their hand-made arts and craft products from the gift shop. Lunch was served and all enjoyed the fellowship. The visitors brought home with them the spirit of hospitality & humility which are always noticeable in the untiring efforts of the Sisters in serving the Home.

Besides attending Mass every Sunday, remember also the need to pray every day. This piece of advice was given by SIC Parish Priest Fr Andrew Wong CDD to 75 children (36 girls and 39 boys) who received the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Jesus for the first time at the 19 October Sunset Mass at St Ignatius Church (SIC). He also encouraged parents to continue bringing their children to Sunday school as part of their duty to bring them up in good faith. Amongst this happy and excited group of children was nine-year-old Nathaniel James Lim who is thankful to teachers in SIC's English Standard 3 First Holy Communion Class of 2019.

Fr Andrew Wong CDD was the main celebrant at the Eucharistic celebration with Assistant Parish Priest Fr Lawrence Ng CDD and Fr Paulino Miranda as concelebrants. As it was World Mission Sunday, the children & parishioners also renewed their baptismal vows & were commissioned for Extraordinary Missionary Year 2019. Incorporated into the One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church through Baptism while infants, receiving Christ in the Eucharist is the third Sacrament received by the children.

Apart from bread and wine, the children offered up their First Holy Communion certificates – a symbol of remembrance of the first time they become one in the Body of Christ – and Camp Crafts Prayer Cards during the Offertory Procession. The children also sang a thanksgiving song titled God Is So Good, Jesus You Are So Good followed with a pledge by their parents. Proudly holding their certificates, each child happily took turns to be photographed with Frs Andrew, Lawrence and Paulino after Mass.

A memento for the children & their parents to remember this special occasion by was a First Holy Communion booklet. On its cover was a drawing by Audrey Ang depicting the Eucharist with the theme: Jesus, My Joy, My Life. Eleven other drawings were featured inside the booklet to showcase not just their artistic flair but also their understanding of what St Thomas Aquinas called the Sacrament of Sacraments.

Sixteen children (nine girls and seven boys) of SIC's Mandarin Standard 3 First Holy Communion Class of 2019 received their First Holy Communion at the 11.15 am Mandarin Mass at SIC on 29 September. Fr Lawrence Ng CDD was the celebrant.

Click on Sunday School for more information on classes and activities to prepare children for the Sacraments of Baptism, First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

More photos taken by the Parish Communication Team (PCT) are available for viewing & downloading (preferably using pc or laptop instead of phone/tablet) at

Thirty one participants from Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor attended the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) Level 1 Part 1 programme at St Ignatius Church (SIC) from 30 Sep to 5 Oct 2019. This formation programme which focuses on children of 3 to 5 years of age was organised by the KL Archdiocesan CGS team. Among the attendees were some nuns from the Franciscan and Canossian religious orders. The formation leader was Ms Anne Diamond from Australia who has 20 years of experience in teaching & leading CGS formations.

Five-and-a-half days of listening to presentation and ‘play’ (‘work’ as it is known in the Atrium) flew by quickly. Time flies when you are having fun. The outcome at the end of the day was always a profoundly personal and joyful expression of faith. CGS exudes God’s beauty all over the Atrium – every work station and everything that is displayed. The Atrium helps to take our faith and make it alive and personal. I attended CGS to learn how to teach scripture, liturgy and sacramental signs to children. What I did not expect was how I have grown in my own personal relationship with Jesus. Like a young child, the discovery of God and the understanding of liturgy and sacramental signs were both from the heart and the head, about relating as well as reading, about loving as well as learning.

– by Laura Lim, Chapel of Kristus Aman

It’s a big grace for us from Indonesia to be able to join this CGS formation in Malaysia. Through this training we learn so many things on the meaning of liturgy, which seems so ordinary, yet truly has a meaning so poignant and profound. I hope this programme will be conducted in Indonesia. The material of this CGS programme has also proven powerful for us adults, and we believe it will really be a blessing if we run this programme for children. It will be a strong foundation for them to stand up in faith in their life in the future. May Atriums be established in Indonesia in the future, please pray for us. Thank you so much CGS Malaysia. – by Alexandra Sutjiadi from Indonesia

I feel blessed and grateful to the formators to have participated in Level 1 Part 1 formation course for catechists. Not only has my faith been renewed but I want to share it with my loved ones. CGS, I feel, has much to offer the young child, building as it does on a profound respect for the dignity of the child and recognising the capacity of the child to feel wonder, awe and joy as she enters further into the Mystery of God. In the Atrium, I experienced how the careful, child-centred structuring of the environment and the way the works, grounded firmly in Scripture and Liturgy, are presented. In this sacred space it is the Holy Spirit (and not us adults) who is the teacher. This is a great comfort to this grandparent and former catechist. I like that there are no correct or incorrect answers to questions; the child is given the opportunity to meditate and the freedom to reach that moment of faith awareness all by herself and at her own pace. In my humble opinion, CGS can without doubt “help the child to fall in love with God”; how can a small child (or an adult like me) resist the invitation to follow the Good Shepherd, the One who calls her so lovingly by name and lays His life down for his sheep? – by Suzanne Sia

Click on Atrium for more information on CGS & the inauguration of this programme at SIC.

Upon arriving at the 'embarking' point on Monday 16 September 2019, I observed that some BEC Damansara Utama Holy Family members were busy loading into the bus, provisions and recyclables that our BEC was taking to St Theresa Church and the Orang Asli community. And I was impressed with the cooperation displayed. We started the bus journey with the prayer of protection to God, followed by World Mission Rosary prayers (each decade was offered for a different continent) and Novena Prayer to St Therese. The bus journey to St Theresa Church in Nilai was smooth and the timing was perfect because we arrived just as we finished the prayers. Some parishioners of the church welcomed us and ushered us to the canteen where we had our simple, but delicious fried vermicilli for breakfast.

The parish priest, Fr Eugene Benedict, greeted us and mingled, getting us ready for the St Theresa Walk to reflect on the life of a patron saint of missions. Fast forward, Fr Eugene had posted some enlightening videos on St Therese of Lisieux to prepare us for the mini pilgrimage. Hence, when he explained on the life of St Therese, all of us had some basic knowledge of St Therese also known as the "Little Flower".

The original church building of St Theresa was in ruins after a fire some years ago. Presently, Masses are celebrated in the building next to the original church building. Fr Eugene explained that he hopes to raise RM5 million to build a bigger church building. He jokingly asked us to inform our parish priest to give generously to the building fund. So far, he has raised RM1.5 million. I pray and trust that our Lord will provide for the glory of His name.

We left St Theresa Church after adoration and Mass to have lunch before proceeding to St Aloysius Church in Mantin for a short visit and a stopover at durian and fruits stalls. From there, we continued our journey to visit the Orang Asli community from the Temuan tribe at Kampong Belihoi in Mantin. I was pleasantly surprised that the Orang Asli community was very organised. There was a car waiting for our arrival to load the provisions we brought as it was not possible for the bus to be driven into the village.

We were all prepared to walk for about 2 km to the village and I was impressed when another car was dispatched to fetch some elderly persons. In addition, another five young men on motorbikes came down to carry some of us. What amazed me was Aunty June, the oldest active BEC member at 80 plus years of age, turning down the comfort of the car and sitting on a motorbike handled by the youngest among the bikers! I quickly said a little prayer for her safety. She was so very sporting.

We spent some time mingling with the Orang Asli families upon our arrival. They were all so friendly and not shy. The children were all so cute and adorable. After mingling, we sang praise and worship songs in the chapel. We had so much fun while praising God. The children out sang us! After singing our hearts out to the Lord, we gave the children a small goodie bag each. The smiles and happiness I saw on their faces brought joy to my heart. Before saying our goodbyes, our BEC formally handed over the provisions of rice, cooking oil, biscuits, instant noodles, vermicilli, Milo, sardines and baby milk powder to be distributed to 30 Catholic families residing in the village.

We proceeded for shopping and dinner at Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA before returning to our homes. Reflecting on the mini pilgrimage and outreach, I see Jesus and angels in our midst. The whole entourage was very cooperative, helpful, caring, tolerant (even tolerating the smell of durians in the bus) and most of all loving, especially when there was a mishap of falling into an earth drain. Vivian told me she was glad it happened to her and not Pat. Don't you think that is love? Which our spiritual journey is all about.

Thank you Lord for this wonderful experience when You opened our eyes to see You, our ears to hear You and our hearts to know and love You. All praise and glory to God in the highest.